Object of the Game:
The objective is to capture your opponent's King while avoiding your own King from being captured. The person who captures the King first or forces their opponent into a stalemate wins the game.
Setup:
The chessboard is set up with 16 pieces for each player, including a King, Queen, Rooks, Bishops, Knights, and Pawns. The pieces are placed on their respective squares according to the standard chess setup.
Movement Rules:
Each type of piece moves differently on the chessboard:
1. King: Moves one square in any direction.
2. Queen: Moves any number of squares diagonally, vertically, or horizontally.
3. Rooks: Moves any number of squares vertically or horizontally.
4. Bishops: Moves any number of squares diagonally.
5. Knights: Moves in an L-shape, two squares in one direction (vertical or horizontal) and then one square perpendicular to that.
6. Pawns: Move one square forward. On their first move, pawns have the option to move forward two squares if the squares are unoccupied. Pawns cannot move backward and must capture diagonally.
Capturing:
When a piece moves to the square occupied by an opponent's piece, the opponent's piece is captured and removed from the board. Pawns have a unique capturing rule: they capture pieces diagonally.
Castling:
Castling is a special move that involves moving the King and a Rook at the same time. Castling can only be performed if specific conditions are met, including the King and the Rook involved not having moved yet and no pieces blocking the path between the King and the Rook.
Check:
A player is in check when their King is under attack (threatened by capture) by at least one of the opponent's pieces. If a player is in check, they must immediately make a move to get out of check.
Checkmate:
The game ends in checkmate when a player cannot make any legal move to get out of check. The player in checkmate loses the game.
Stalemate:
A stalemate occurs when a player has no legal moves to make and is not in check. In this situation, the game ends in a draw.
Special Pawn Rules:
1. Pawn Promotion: When a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board (the opponent's first rank), it is promoted to a Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight.
2. En Passant: If a pawn moves two squares forward on its first move and an opposing pawn occupies a square diagonally adjacent to the pawn, the opposing pawn can capture the pawn as if it moved only one square forward. This capture can only occur immediately after the pawn moves forward two squares.
Additional Rules:
There are additional rules and variations that may apply depending on the specific variation of Endgame being played.